Reflections on political, social and economic developments in the lives of India and its peoples

Friday, July 05, 2013

Lootera (लूटेरा) my 1 min review

First
things first. Sonakshi Sinha is beautiful, and in this film, has
delivered a performance that marks her out as the best actress among her
contemporaries. Ranveer Singh is suave and brooding by turns. The film
itself has charms that are rare in today’s Hindi cinema. It harks back
to a world of grace that is no more. There is quietness and slowness,
restraint and melody. It is lovely to watch.

And yet, I left the theatre disappointed.

The
words ‘film industry’ speak of the conjunction of two very different
worlds: film, which is art, and industry, which is technology and
business. Most of the big new releases these days get the industry bit
right. The parts are all manufactured to high quality and precision; the
locations are perfect, the sets are excellent, the cinematography is
just right, and the sound is appropriate, at the least.

But you can’t manufacture soul in any factory. And that’s where film after film falters or fails.

Lootera
tried to borrow its soul from one of the greatest short stories of all
time, a little gem by O’Henry. This was grafted onto another story,
about the lonely daughter of a Bengali zamindar in the 1950s. That is a
world whose cadences were captured masterfully by Satyajit Ray in films
like Jalsaghar and Charulata.

Vikramaditya
Motwane and Anurag Kashyap have managed to bring back some of those
cadences into Lootera. They have managed to infuse the perfect body of
their film with some borrowed soul. For this, I am more than happy: I am
grateful. My disappointment is about the failure of imagination that
drives Bollywood’s best talents to go about their business like the
Thieving Magpie - also the name of an opera by Rossini whose music has
been used in Lootera - to build their films.